played their parts so long that these came to be natural to them as soon
as they passed the Volga. We are all so in a minor degree. In each
house, to each of our friends, we are unconsciously different in some
particular. One man holds us in awe, and we unconsciously instil that
feeling. Another considers us a buffoon, and, lo! we are exceedingly
funny.

Paul and Steinmetz knew that the people around them in Osterno were
somewhat like the dumb and driven beast. These peasants required
overawing by a careful display of pomp--an unrelaxed dignity. The line
of demarcation between the noble and the peasant is so marked in the
land of the Czar that it is difficult for Englishmen to realize or
believe it. It is like the line that is drawn between us and our dogs.
If we suppose it possible that dogs could be taught to act and think for
themselves; if we take such a development as practicable, and consider
the possibilities of social upheaval lying behind such an education, we
can in a minute degree realize the problem which Prince Pavlo Alexis and
all his fellow-nobles will be called upon to solve within the lifetime
of men already born.




CHAPTER X


THE MOSCOW DOCTOR

"Colossal!" exclaimed Steinmetz, beneath his breath. With a little trick
of the tongue he transferred his cigar from the right-hand to the